Box with Miniature: Rivals

A version of a painting by Nikolai Aleseevich Kasatkin (1859-1930) entitled "Rivals" (Sopenitsy), (1890) is reproduced on the box's lid. It is winter and two peasant women are returning home from a well. The miniaturist has departed from the original composition by positioning the figure with the yoke on the left, rather than the right. Also, not in the original composition, but occurring in other versions of the painting, is the well surrounded by women. The scene is framed in a border in olive and blue filigree enamel decorated with additional filigree scrolls. Paired sea creatures, in blue and pink filigree enamel, appear on the sides and ends of the box.